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#RobinaCourtin

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Posted @withregram • @plumvillageapp

A poem written by Thich Nhat Hanh during the Vietnam War. You can listen to a version of this poem put to music via the app – link in bio

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by Thich Nhat Hanh

Promise me,
promise me this day,
promise me now,
while the sun is overhead
exactly at the zenith,

promise me:
Even as they
strike you down
with a mountain of hatred and violence;
even as they step on you and crush you
like a worm,
even as they dismember and disembowel you,
remember brother, remember:
man is not our enemy.

The only thing worthy of you is compassion –
invincible, limitless, unconditional.
Hatred will never let you face
the beast in man.

One day, when you face this beast alone with your courage intact, your eyes kind,
untroubled
(even as no one sees them),
out of your smile
will bloom a flower.

And those who love you
will behold you
across ten thousand worlds of birth and dying.

Alone again,
I will go on with bent head,
knowing that love has become eternal.
On the long, rough road
the sun and moon will continue to shine.

#ThichNhatHanh

@thichnhathanh

Happy Hanukkah with wishes for peace to all my Jewish friends. may it be blessed. 

may our inner light of love and wisdom burn bright and continuous, just as the oil lamps long ago. 

and may such love and wisdom transform our lives and that of the world for the better, for healing, for peace. 🕎

~j

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#Hanukkah #light #wisdom #love #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

🌀

this life, a rare gift.

to be spent how?

to embody love.

to heal.

how is it that we can use this one precious life, with our intelligence and our imagination, rallying the full force of our presence to what? to create a myriad of ways to harm and destroy life?

we must stand with the sacredness of all life and push back against the delusion that gives rise to the justification of harm and destruction wherever and in whomever it arises.

and when force is necessary to defend the innocent and endangered, should we not move with love still, with careful reservation and the intention to minimize harm and destruction?

there will always be those who seek to take advantage of tragedy and crisis, playing on heightened emotions. it is power they seek, not peace. 

as challenging as it may be, in such moments, may we remember we are called to stand with life, to love and heal without discrimination or favor, in solidarity with those suffering.

may hearts open, may wisdom arise.

~j

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#life #sacred #gift #healers #love #empathy #kindness #OpenHeart #wisdom #bodhisattvas #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #Milarepa

🌀

so much harm in the world could be avoided if we saw other people’s experience and pain as our own. their suffering as our suffering. 

empathy may be the most important human quality and potential, a quality which guides and governs all other qualities.

from empathy, arises our tenderness, kindness, and compassion.

may empathy inspire our practice, may our hearts open, may our wisdom arise, for the benefit of our world and all within, on, and around it.

~j

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#empathy #tenderness #kindness #compassion #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #AudreyHepburn

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we put so much off, waiting for the right time, waiting to be ready, waiting for the perfect moment, not knowing if another moment or even one more breath will come.

what if this moment, in all of its imperfection, in all of its ambiguity, in all of its restlessness IS the perfect moment to love, to be kind, to serve, to work for peace, to forgive and heal, to restore, to learn and grow, to dream, to open our hearts and awareness, to connect with others, and to let go, simply because it is truly the only moment we have?

the practice is now, the teacher is now.

if not now, when?

~j

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#IfNotNowWhen #WhyWait #ThisMoment #love #BeKind #learn #grow #heal #dream #restore #serve #peace #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #calligraphy

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i take refuge

in a clear, calm, 

and steady mind,

an open heart,

and my practice.

all three benefit each other.

~j

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#clarity #calm #steady #mind #OpenHeart #path #practice #JinpaLhaga #JMWart

hello friends!

it’s #GivingTuesday!  although there are many causes and organizations close to my heart and that i donate to throughout the year, i’d like to put a spotlight on three organizations who regularly and without favor go directly to the suffering caused by tragedy and conflict, helping people, in devastating circumstances, with the most basic and fundamental of needs – food, healthcare, and shelter.

World Central Kitchen, Doctors Without Borders, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) really exemplify unbiased empathy and compassion, which is love in action and the foundations of peace.

please consider these incredible organizations in your generosity.

may hearts open and wisdom arise in our world to the benefit of us all.

~j

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#WorldCentralKitchen #DoctorsWithoutBorders #InternationalRescueCommittee #IRC #hunger #healthcare #shelter #refugees #war #congflict #empathy #compassion #love #OpenHearts #generosity #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #photography

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“I call on anyone who has the capacity to amplify messages of light, of love, of peace, of connection, of unity, of remembering that we are one family, we are one race. And if we can do that, we will create a better world together.”

~ Moshe Gersht

who’s in?

~j

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#light #love #peace #connection #unity #OpenHeart #path #practice #MosheGershtQuotes #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #art #PhotoArt #photography

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ethics are at the forefront of the Buddhist path. this is sometimes forgotten w/ so much emphasis on meditation & the mindfulness movement, but ethics are a cornerstone to practice & the path which is ultimately about embodying love & reducing/ending suffering. Buddhists often take vows in this regard. for non-monastics, the Five Precepts, are the focus. these aren’t commandments as much as guidelines for living an ethical life & they include: abstaining from killing living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct or harm, lying or false speech, & intoxication (mindlessness).

these can sound like a strict moral code, but ultimately they are about living our lives in a way that doesn’t harm others or ourselves & are flexible to interpretation to a degree. they are considered training, a form of practice & are even called “the five rules of training”. Zen Master, Vietnamese Buddhist & peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh refers to them as “The Five Mindfulness Trainings” & has written his own interpretation/commentary on them. his approach is much more nuanced & comprehensive, tackling in the First Precept, for instance, what does it mean to “kill” and extending the meaning to include harming.

~j
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here’s his interpretation/commentary:

THE FIRST MINDFULNESS TRAININGS

“Reverence for Life”

Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating the insight of interbeing and compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, or in my way of life. Seeing that harmful actions arise from anger, fear, greed, and intolerance, which in turn come from dualistic and discriminative thinking, I will cultivate openness, non-discrimination, and non-attachment to views in order to transform violence, fanaticism, and dogmatism in myself and in the world.
~
Thich Nhat Hanh

#TheFivePrecepts #TheFiveMindfulnessTrainings #FirstMindfulnessTraining #NoKilling #Nonharming #ThichNhatHanh #Love #ethics #mindfulness #Path #Practice #OpenHeart #JinpaLhaga #JMWart #ZenCalligraphy #art